Southeast Asia

Denver's ten best spots for pho

Vietnamese soup is good food any time of the year, and always fun to accessorize with fresh vegetables and spicy sauces -- but on a cold day like today, a great bowl of pho is enough to bowl you over. Fortunately, in Denver our cup runneth over with pho spots. Here, in no particular order (until th ... More >>

This portrait of Robert Kennedy humanizes the politician and his flaws

Makan Malaysian Cafe could turn you into a roti rooter

Photos: Inside Makan Malaysian Cafe

One-man, one-day production of The Things They Carried here Friday

Young Americans have lots of experience with war, right? I mean, we've lived (very remotely) through wars in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and we've got hard-hitting blockbusters like Battleship and Red Tails to learn from. We can even step into a soldier's shoes with video games like Call of Duty, Hal ... More >>

In Decoding Deepak, a son chronicles his father's private and public lives

World Threads III pays homage to global fiber arts at TACtile Textile Arts Center

One of TACtile Textile Arts Center's most colorful exhibits is back: World Threads III: Preserving Textile Traditions, featuring -- as in the past -- a beautiful global palette of fiber-arts handiwork to both look at and to buy. Even more beautiful is the humanitarian purpose behind the show -- to s ... More >>

Thai Monkey Club swings into Golden

Kong Phom, a native of Thailand who has been in the States for thirty years, doesn't waste time: It took just a few months after he opened Thai Monkey Club, a curry and noodle parlor, on South Broadway last year to ink a deal on a second spot.

Fans flock to New Saigon for the food, not the service

More photos: In the kitchen at New Saigon

Jenna Johansen, former exec chef of Dish, in Edwards, goes Around the World in 80 Plates on Bravo TV's new chef reality show

Jenna Johansen, the former exec chef -- and still part-owner -- of Dish restaurant, in Edwards (she's now in Denver, engaged to Il Mondo Vecchio sausage king Mark DeNittis, who's involved with a new project, Salumeria Cansano in Wash Park), is strutting her culinary prowess on a new Bravo TV show, A ... More >>

Karma Asian's wide vegetarian selection has something for everyone

​Karma Asian is small, tucked into the middle of a block on a busy stretch of Broadway, but the menu encompasses a pan-Asian theme with options from Vietnam, China, Japan and Thailand. And almost everything on Karma's menu is already vegetarian/vegan or can be made with tofu and veggies, so do ... More >>

Round two with Hunter Pritchett, exec chef of Luca d'Italia

Hunter Pritchett Luca d'Italia 711 Grant Street 303-832-6600 www.lucadenver.com This is part two of my interview with Hunter Pritchett, exec chef of Luca d'Italia. Part one of my chat with Pritchett ran in this space yesterday. Favorite restaurant in America: I just had an amazing meal at Red Med ... More >>

Eleven favorite dishes from 2011 -- and one more to usher in 2012

Lori Midson​It hasn't been a good year for our economy, but it's been a stellar year for the Denver restaurant scene, which continues to produce culinary heroes and push the envelope. I can't even begin to guess how many meals I've eaten in restaurants over the past year, but I'm fairly certai ... More >>

Utumporn Killoran takes her cooking inside at Thai Street Food Restaurant

Slide show: Thai Street Food Restaurant photos

Snow Globe

Thanawat Bates, exec chef of the Palace Arms, on his James Beard Dinner nightmare

Thanawat Bates Palace Arms at the Brown Palace 321 17th Street 303-297-3111 www.brownpalace.com/dining This is part one of my interview with Thanawat Bates, exec chef of the Palace Arms at the Brown Palace. Part two of my interview with Bates will run tomorrow. The definition of culture shock? Spe ... More >>

Thai Monkey Club opens in Baker on Saturday with a buy-one-get-one-free special for a week

​Real "Thai spicy." That's what owner and Chiang Mai native Joy Phom promises at Thai Monkey Club, opening on Saturday at 102 South Broadway, in the Baker neighborhood. To celebrate (and bring more folks through the door), she's offering a buy-one-get-one-free special up to $10 that's applicab ... More >>

Dancing Noodle Thai Cuisine is back after a summer break

​Dancing Noodle Thai Cuisine is open again after a brief summer break. After a sabbatical in Thailand, the couple who owns Dancing Noodle, our pick as Best Thai Restaurant in the Best of Denver 2010, are back in the kitchen, cooking up Thai fare that's certain to be more authentic than ever. ... More >>

Dancing Noodle Thai Cuisine takes a summer time-out

​Dancing Noodle Thai Cuisine, the family-run spot we named Best Thai Restaurant in 2010, is closed until Thursday, July 21, while the couple that owns it is on sabbatical in Thailand. And that's ultimately good news: Once Dancing Noodle reopens, its commitment to authentic Thai fare should be ... More >>

Cars 2 and other sequels that tried (and failed) to freshen up by going abroad

​What's the best way to perk up a tired movie franchise? Most of the time, there is no way. But movie producers still continue to try by taking the old characters overseas and hoping the new locale will reheat the leftovers. Case in point: Cars 2. The film comes out this Friday and promises to ... More >>

The Hangover Part II is too faithful to jokes from the original

John Sayles on his new novel, wars, history and research

​John Sayles is best known as a cult-director and script doctor, but apparently all that time spent writing and directing his own movies isn't enough for him, as he's also an accomplished novelist. Sayles will be hanging out at the Tattered Cover on Colfax this weekend to answer all your quest ... More >>

Dennis Dean Sieving, our Shmuck of the Week, is driving us crazy

​Driving in Denver gets more difficult every day. If it's not the construction and repair, then it's the badly synchronized lights or rush-hour traffic. If it's not the sneaky radar vans, then it's the real trouble-makers who weave in and out of lanes at twice the speed of everyone else. So ... More >>

Madison Street's Rob Michaels dishes on dumbing down menus, the pitfalls of parsley and pork heaven

Lori Midson​ Rob Michaels Madison Street 1222 Madison Street 303-736-2260 www.madisonstreetdenver.com Filipinos are renowned for their unwavering hospitality, for unleashing food feasts that swell the belly, for ensuring that no host allows her guests to leave hungry. "We're known for provi ... More >>

Review preview: Thai Flavor

Mark Manger​Over the course of my life in Denver, I've eaten a lot of mediocre Thai food, putting down bowls of curry and plates of pad Thai that were edible -- but forgettable -- up and down the Front Range. But this winter, after I returned from Southeast Asia, where I'd eaten nothing that ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes: Sea scallop and rock shrimp noodle bowl from Bones

Lori Midson​ No. 66: Sea scallop and rock shrimp noodle bowl from Bones Like a lot of people, I spent the majority of my years as an undergraduate obsessed with keeping my waistline shaped to a size two (those days are long, long gone) and spending whatever leftover scholarship money I had o ... More >>

100 Favorite Dishes: Larb nua from Taste of Thailand

Lori Midson​ No. 80: Larb nua from Taste of Thailand. Taste of Thailand chef/owner Noy Farrell, who has been turning out Thai food since 1994 from the kitchen confines of her faithfully crowded restaurant across the street from Swedish Hospital, grows vegetables, berries, herbs and various ... More >>

New Music from Amazing Twin, the outfit formerly known as Old Radio

​Old Radio, a prominent member of the Hot Congress collective and generally excellent band, has finally finished its debut recording. The band is slated to release the new EP, titled New Wives' Tale, this Thursday during Hot Congress's final night of residency at the Meadowlark. You can hear ... More >>

Sweet Ginger Asian Bistro & Sushi will open this month in Cherry Creek

Lori Midson​Sweet Ginger Asian Bistro & Sushi will open later this month at 2710 East Third Avenue, in the subterranean space that was formerly home to Plush. "We want to try and open before Thanksgiving, and we should have our liquor license by next week," says owner Julie He, a restaurant v ... More >>

Opas Sinprasong pleads guilty to running his Siamese Plate restaurants like slave ships

Daily CameraOpas Sinprasong.​When it came to taking advantage of his employees, Opas Sinprasong, who owned several Boulder-area Siamese Plate restaurants, appears to have been an expert. Sinprasong pleaded guilty to harboring illegal aliens and failing to pay taxes -- offenses likely to result ... More >>

ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro set to open in early October

Lon Symensma will open ChoLon Modern Asian Bistro on October 1​Back in March, I christened Lon Symensma one of the sexiest chefs on the culinary planet, a pronouncement by which I still stand, especially since unearthing a Youtube video of the hot shot kitchen magician foraging for food around ... More >>

EDGE Restaurant & Bar to open in the Four Seasons this Fall

​When the Four Seasons Hotel, 1111 14th Street, opens its doors for guests this fall, it will also give Denver a new place to eat: EDGE Restaurant & Bar. Defined by the Four Seasons as a "contemporary steakhouse," the eatery will also feature wild game and a tapas menu, as well as a long, by-t ... More >>

Littleton's Wild Ginger on hiatus until late August

Lori Midson​Wild Ginger, the excellent Thai restaurant at 399 West Littleton Boulevard in Littleton, is on hiatus until August 28, an extended holiday of sorts, while owner Somsak Damrongsang hangs out in his native Thailand and the kitchen gets a makeover. "We remodeled the dining room fou ... More >>

Twelve turns one today

​Happy birthday to Twelve, which brought fine dining to a less-than-fine location at 2233 Larimer Street last fall, but has survived that first tough year. And tonight, chef/owner Jeff Osaka will celebrate his restaurant's first birthday by gifting diners with a complimentary glass of sparkl ... More >>

Chef and Tell with Mary Nguyen of Parallel 17

Mary Nguyen, executive chef/owner of Parallel 17​"Food is the one thing that I grew up knowing would bring family and friends together, soothe wounds and mend hearts as well as improve any party or celebration," says Mary Nguyen, chef-owner of the Vietnamese-French bistro Parallel 17. "I enter ... More >>

Flick Pick

Pho 99 is pho-king great

Going Batty

Sweet Basil Gin Rickey

Capital Grille

Car Talk

Actor Jesse Borrego starts a conversation.

Pho Saigon

When it’s snowing outside, good pho can bowl you over.

The Hard Truth

Celery, I can forgive. Bad French, never.

Elvis Lives

Vietnam House is a rock star.

Bite Me

Family Affair

So Pho, So Good

Pho 79 is my tome on the range.

Best Store Anywhere on Broadway

Foreign Accents

Drink of the Week

Hole in One

While Moongate rises, Little Panda falls short.

Good Things Come in Mall Packages

Saigon Terrace's authentic Vietnamese food turns Colorado Boulevard into Ho Chi Minh Trail.

What's Old Is New Again

New Saigon gets better with age.

SOUP'S ON